The unprecedented two-day Republican Midterms Convention in Dallas concluded on Thursday, September 10. During the convention's first day, President Donald Trump claimed that U.S. Army Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was attending the event. But according to the Washington Post, that would have been physically impossible on Wednesday — as Caine was attending a different event.
Post reporter Dan Lamothe explains, "Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, instead spoke a few miles away at a 9/11 anniversary event at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, according to video and his spokesman, Joe Holstead. Trump, speaking at the political convention, said he wanted to thank Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Caine, and that they were both present."
Trump, at the 2026 GOP Midterms Convention, said, "Where is Gen. Caine? … They're here someplace."
Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the Trump White House, told the Post that Trump "rightfully thanked Gen. Caine for all he has done to strengthen our military and make our homeland safer." But according to Lamothe, Kelly "did not address" Trump's "inaccurate statement about Caine's presence."
Lamothe points out that it would have been inappropriate for Caine, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to speak at an overtly "partisan" event like the GOP Midterms Convention in Dallas.
"Pentagon regulations prohibit U.S. troops from attending 'partisan political events as an official representative of the Armed Forces, except as a member of a joint Armed Forces color guard at the opening ceremonies,'" Lamothe notes. "Caine, speaking at the 9/11 event, recalled his own experience as an F-16 fighter pilot with the D.C. National Guard on 9/11. The day, he said, was tragic but 'also filled with beautiful examples of selfless courage, over and over again.'"
September 11, 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, which killed more than 3000 Americans that day.
The GOP Midterms Convention came at a time when Republicans are fighting to save their majorities in both houses of Congress. The speakers included Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who gave the keynote address, as well as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (a former Democrat), former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Donald Trump Jr. (the president's son).